Blog & Articles

The shortage of nursing professionals is a growing global crisis that significantly impacts patient safety and healthcare delivery systems. Emergency departments (EDs) are particularly impacted, as there are not many nurses still working in EDs who have more than a few years of experience. The importance of an experienced and effective nursing team cannot be overstated both in and outside of the ED. The nursing shortage has a direct impact on patient safety, so this is a good subject for this week’s discussion.

Recent studies demonstrate that about 7% of all emergency department (ED) patients present with a mental health condition. Because of the unique risks associated with psychiatric patients, coordinating their care and admission has proven to be a challenge for emergency practitioners. Here we present a case that highlights the risks of boarding patients in the ED.

History

Triage is an essential part of any busy emergency department (ED), but it is often undervalued. While triage is not designed to determine the cause of a patient’s symptoms, it prioritizes the patient’s need to be seen by a provider. EDs often assume (possibly erroneously) that triage assessments are being performed correctly or that any errors in triage can be corrected when the medical screening is done. Both assumptions can lead to serious adverse patient events.

Surgery Is a Team Sport

Acute ischemic stroke affects about 800,000 patients a year in the U.S.; 600,000 of these cases are a first stroke. Stroke is a leading cause of permanent cognitive and function-limiting disability, and it ranks fifth among all causes of death.

What does your organization’s employee satisfaction survey really tell you about how staff feel about their roles/jobs?

Despite almost two decades of attention and study, diagnostic error continues to be a main issue in healthcare, affecting an estimated 12 million people each year and causing harm in one-third of those cases.

Effective solutions to combat diagnostic error exist today. Why haven't more institutions implemented programs with a focus on diagnostic error reduction?

[9 MIN READ]

Remember paper T sheets? Your patient has back pain, so you grab a paper T sheet from the anatomical rack, walk into the exam room, get your history, make some circles and slashes, and your history and physical is all but complete by the time you get back to your desk. Write in (remember writing?) some MDM and ‘ba-da-boom’, the chart is done. The focus was on easy documentation and receiving appropriate reimbursement for the care provided.